Method and apparatus for transferring crimped tow

ABSTRACT

A stuffer crimped synthetic fiber tow is introduced to an entry of a chute, passed through the chute, transferred onto a moving conveyor and folded erect and to regular traverse length. When passing through a hollow path in the chute, the crimped tow is twisted through about 90* and pleated erect with respect to the surface of the conveyor. An exit of the chute makes reciprocating turns substantially horizontally and almost perpendicular to the moving direction of the conveyor. The stuffer crimped tow discharged from the chute is folded erect on the conveyor.

United States Patent 11 1 Izawa May 13, 1975 [54] METHOD AND APPARATUSFOR 3,302,839 2 1967 Spruill 226/200 x 3,466,716 9/1969 Hancock 226 197x TRANSFERRING CRIMPED TOW Nobuharu Izawa, Ehime-ken, Japan Assignee:Teijin Ltd., Osah, Japan Filed: Sept. 4, 1973 Appl. No.: 394,075

Inventor:

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Sept. 7, 1972 Japan 47-89110 July25, 1973 Japan 48-83032 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,112,05411/1963 Fleissner ..226/172X Primary Examiner-Richard A. SchacherAttorney, Agent, or Firm-Sherman & Shalloway [57] ABSTRACT A stuffercrimped synthetic fiber tow is introduced to an entry of a chute, passedthrough the chute, transferred onto a moving conveyor and folded erectand to regular traverse length. When passing through a hollow path'inthe chute, the crimped tow is twisted through about 90 and pleated erectwith respect to the surface of the conveyor. An exit of the chute makesreciprocating turns substantially horizontally and almost perpendicularto the moving direction of the conveyor. The stuffer crimped towdischarged from the chute is folded erect on the conveyor.

7 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures I. I w

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TRANSFERRING CRIMPED TOW The present inventionrelates to a method and an apparatus for transferring a stuffer crimpedsynthetic fiber tow onto a heating conveyor, and more particularly forarranging the tow erect on the heating conveyor from a stuffer crimper.

In general, a synthetic fiber tow is fed to a crimper after drawing forcrimping, transferred onto a conveyor after the crimping and dried andheat set with a heater where a heat transfer medium circulates.

Apparatuses for transferring the crimped tow onto the conveyor aredisclosed, for example, in Japanese Pat. Publication No. 3,312/65 andJapanese Pat. Publication No. 22,883/71. In the apparatus of JapanesePat. Publication No. 3,312/65, a conveyor is arranged below a stuffercrimper and the tow discharged from the crimper is introduced into aJ-shaped stationary chute the entry and exit of which are twistedthrough about 90 degrees and the cross section of which is in order ofincreasing size from entry to exit. The tow is passed through the chuteby gravity and stood erect on the conveyor to the width of the exit ofthe chute. In the device disclosed in Japanese Pat. Publication No.-

22,883/71, the crimped tow discharged from the crimper is uniformlystuffed in a stationary chute with a swinging cylinder and stood erecton a conveyor to the width of the exit of the stationary chute. Withthese apparatuses, it is impossible to stand a crimped tow erect touniform width and density, because stick-slip of the crimped tow occurswithin the chute. Consequently, heating fluid passes unevenly and dryingand heat setting become very irregular, resulting in nonuniformmechanical properties or abrasioncharacteristics of the fibers andcausing troubles in the subsequent textile processing.

The object of the present invention is to provide an improved method andan efficient apparatus for transferring a synthetic fiber tow fromstuffer crimper to heating conveyor.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method and anapparatus for standing a crimped tow discharged from a stuffer crimpererect and pleating it down to the substantially uniform traverse lengthand density on a running conveyor in order that a heat-set tow having auniform and favorable crimp may be secured.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a method andan apparatus for standing a crimped tow smoothly and accurately erect ona conveyor.

A further object of this invention is to obtain a heatset tow having ahighly favorable crimp with a comparatively simple apparatus.

According to this invention a method is provided for transferring astuffercrimped tow onto a running conveyor in which the tow is stooderect on the surface of the running conveyor and caused to makereciprocating motions substantially horizontally and almostperpendicular to the running direction of the conveyor.

According to this invention there is also provided an apparatus fortransferring a stuffer crimped tow onto a running conveyor characterizedby a chute having an entry to receive the crimped tow from a stuffercrimper and an exit to discharge it onto the running conveyor, twistingthe crimped tow entering from the entry through about 90 and leading itto the exit and means of traversing at least part of the chute such thatthe exit makes reciprocating turns within the desired rangesubstantially horizontally and almost perpendicular to the runningdirection of the conveyor.

With the method and apparatus of the present invention, it is possibleto arrange a stuffer crimped tow erect to substantially the same widthand density as each other and obtain a heat-set crimped tow having auniform and satisfactory crimp.

The invention will be described in more detail with reference to theaccompany drawings. It is to be understood however that the invention isnot to be limited to the embodiments illustrated and described butincludes all of the obvious variations and modifications within thespirit of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 2 to 4 are simplified side views of modified embodiments of theinvention.

With reference to FIG. 1, drawn tow T, 100,000 150,000 total deniercomprising synthetic filaments such as polyamide, polyolefin, polyesterand polyacrylonitrile is fed to stuffer crimper l and crimped intocrimped tow CT. The resultant crimped tow CT is transferred onto runningconveyor 2 with stainless steel nets or a porous plate. The crimped towis transferred to a heat setter (not shown) where a heat transfer mediumis circulating with the conveyor and undergoes drying, heat setting andthe like.

Crimped tow CT discharged from stuffer crimper 1 is transferred ontotransfer plate 3 without being subjected to any substantial change inthe as-discharged shape, introduced in entry 5 of chute 4 and dischargedonto conveyor 2 from exit 6 of the chute via a hollow path of the chute.The tow may, however, be directly led from crimper l to the entry ofchute 4. In this case, it is advisable to make part of the upper wall ofthe chute detachable or capable of being opened because the tip of thetow which has not undergone crimping should be removed.

Chute 4 has entry 5 and exit 6 and its inner hollow path has a twist ofabout around the longitudinal axis of the path in order that the crimpedtow entering from entry 5 may be twisted through about 90 degrees andled to exit 6. Crimped tow CT which has entered chute 4 from entry 5 inthe parallel state with respect to the surface of conveyor 2 is twistedthrough about 90 while passing through the hollow path of chute 4 anddischarged from exit 6 almost perpendicular (that is, erect) to thesurface of conveyor 2. It is desirable that the cross sectional shape ofthe hollow path of chute 4 corresponds to that of the crimped tow, forinstance a rectangle and the cross sectional area is slightly greaterthan that of the crimped tow. That is, if the tow is of a rectangle, 1mm wide and h mm high, the hollow path is preferably of a rectangle,which .has a width of (1 1+ 5) l (l 30) mm and a height of (h 5) h mm (h30) mm. Further it is preferable that the cross sectional area of entry5 is slightly greater than that of other portions of the chute and takesa funnel shape such that crimped tow CT easily enters the chute fromtransfer plate 3. Chute 4 and transfer plate 3 are preferably ofstainless steel in view of its anti-rust and sliding properties.

Chute 4 is pivotally mounted on support shaft 7 and makes reciprocatingturns around support shaft 7 by a suitable means designated by 8.Therefore, exit 6 is traversed almost perpendicular to the runningdirection of conveyor 2 to the desired traverse length. As the means 8of traversing chute 4, various well-known types besides the illustratedtype may be in use. In the embodiment, the whole chute 4 is traversed,but the chute may be longitudinally divided to give reciprocating turnsonly to that portion which is on the side of exit 6, and traverse theexit 6 also.

In this way, exit 6 makes reciprocating motions substantiallyhorizontally and almostperpendicular to the running direction ofconveyor 2 to the desired traverse length and the crimped tow is foldedon the conveyor 2 in the erect state and in the traverse length. Thearranged state, density and the like depend upon the reciprocating speedof exit 6 and the running speed of conveyor 2, which are to beoptionally selected by the feed speed of crimped tow CT to be suppliedto the entry of chute 4. The filling density of the crimped tow on theconveyor is rendered great and disappearance of crimp is prevented bylowering fairly the running speed of conveyor 2. The traversing speed ofexit6 is substantially the same as the feed speed of crimped tow CT(discharge speed of tow from exit 6) and consequently the tow istransferred onto the conveyor from the crimper in theas-dischargedstate. On the other hand, it is possible to control crimp performance byincreasing the reciprocating speed of chute 4 or the running speed ofthe conveyor when the amount of crimp is too large. For instance, whenthe feed speed of the tow is 5.49 m per minute, the preferablereciprocating speed of exit 6 is 3.8 reciprocations per minute in atraverse length of 0.8 m and the preferable running speed of theconveyor is 0.208 m per minute. It is also possible to alter thetraversing speed of exit 6and/or the running speed of conveyor 2 withvariations of feed speed of the tow so that the filling speed of the towon the conveyor may be maintained constant.

In an embodiment as shown in FIG. 1, the crimped tow discharged fromexit 6 is traversed on the conveyor perpendicular to the surface of theconveyor and it is advisable to traverse the tow with a slight forwardtilting with respect to the surface of conveyor 2 (tilting slightlytoward the running direction of the conveyor) such that the crimped towimmediately after its movementonto the conveyor does not fall down. Asshown in FIG. 2, tow-filling portion 9 of the conveyor is slightlytapered with angle a and crimped tow CT discharged from exit 6 andtraversed on conveyor 2 is arranged on the conveyor such that the planeof the tow (wall surface of erect, band-like tow) is tilted with respectto the perpendicular direction toward the running direction of conveyor2 through angle 6. The tilt is modified to be almost perpendicular whereconveyor 2 starts to be horizontal. When crimped tow CT discharged fromchute 4 is led onto the conveyor while it is slightly tilted, thecrimped tow will not fall toward the chute and the subsequent tow willbe filled continuously and stably.

In FIG. 2, the fall of the tow is prevented by tilting the tow-fillingportion of conveyor 2, whereas in FIG. 3 plate 10 tilted through angle01 is disposed between chute 4 and conveyor 2 to receive the crimped towfrom chute 4. In FIG. 4, chute 4 is tilted through angle a with respectto horizontal and the tow is tilted through angle 6 to the runningdirection of conveyor 2.

Angle of inclination 6 is to 45, preferably to 30. It is found byexperiments that with the angle less from the perpendicular directionthrough 5 to than 5, the tow tends to fall and with the angleabove i 45it. cannot smoothly restore the tilting when it reaches the horizontalportion of conveyor 2, resulting in the poor circulation of hotair, etc.at the timeof the subsequent drying and heat treatment. With the angleof inclination at 10 to 30 theresults are best.

In the illustrated embodiments, stuffer crimper l and conveyor 2 aresubstantially on a level with each other.

When crimper 1 is located higher than conveyor 2, the

crimped tow discharged from crimper 1 may bele'd" I onto conveyor 2 withthe use of a curved chute, for in stance, a Jshaped chute. In the lightof saving in space,

it is evident that crimper I and conveyor 2 are .prefera I bly locatedona level with each other.

What is claimed is: 1. A method of transferring a stuffer crimped towonto a running conveyor characterized by standingthe stuffer crimped towerect with respect to the surface of the running conveyor and traversing:the tow substantially horizontally and almost perpendicular totherunning direction of the conveyorand thereby arranging the tow on theconveyor in a pleated-erect pattern comprising:

crimping a tow of synthetic filaments in a 'stuffer crimper; feeding thecrimped tow running conveyor;

onto the surface of said running conveyor and;

traversing the exit of said chute substantially horizon-f tally andalmost perpendicular .to the running di rection of the conveyor wherebythe tow is arranged in a pleated-erect pattern on" said running I'conveyor.

2. The method of transferring a stuffer crimped tow I as set forth inclaim 1 wherein the crimped tow to be arranged on the conveyor isprevented from falling down, comprising tilting the tow discharged fromthe I chute to the running directionof the running conveyor prior tofeeding said crimped tow onto the running conveyor.

an entry for receiving the crimped tow from a stuffer crimper and anexit for discharging the crimped tow.

onto the conveyor, a hollow passageway connecting said entry and saidexit, said passageway having a twist j through about about itslongitudinal axis and means.

of traversing at least one portion of the chute such that the exit makesreciprocating turns substantially horizontally and almost perpendicularto the running direc- 7 tion of the conveyor in the desired traverselength.

4. The apparatus for transf erring a stuffer crimped tow as set forth inclaim 3 further comprising means of i tilting the erect, crimped towfrom the perpendicular direction tothe running direction of the conveyorthrough 5 to 45 to thereby prevent the crimped tow to be arranged on theconveyorfrom .falling down.

dischargedfrom the stuffer v 5 crimper in its as-discharged shape alonga horizontal path to a chute having an :entrance and an exit and ahollow passageway therebetween, said pas sageway having a twist of about90,about its longitudinal axis, said chute being disposed above said isaid entry of the chute is slightly larger than the crosssection of theother portions of the chute.

7. The apparatus for transferring a stuffer crimped tow as set forth inclaim 3 further comprising a transfer plate between the stuffer crimperand the entry of the chute.

1. A method of transferring a stuffer crimped tow onto a runningconveyor characterized by standing the stuffer crimped tow erect withrespect to the surface of the running conveyor and traversing the towsubstantially horizontally and almost perpendicular to the runningdirection of the conveyor and thereby arranging the tow on the conveyorin a pleated-erect pattern comprising: crimping a tow of syntheticfilaments in a stuffer crimper; feeding the crimped tow discharged fromthe stuffer crimper in its as-discharged shape along a horizontal pathto a chute having an entrance and an exit and a hollow passagewaytherebetween, said passageway having a twist of about 90* about itslongitudinal axis, said chute being disposed above said runningconveyor; feeding the crimped tow through said passageway of said chuteto thereby discharge the crimped tow from the exit of said chuteperpendicularly to and onto the surface of said running conveyor and;traversing the exit of said chute substantially horizontally and almostperpendicular to the running direction of the conveyor whereby the towis arranged in a pleated-erect pattern on said running conveyor.
 2. Themethod of transferring a stuffer crimped tow as set forth in claim 1wherein the crimped tow to be arranged on the conveyor is prevented fromfalling down, comprising tilting the tow discharged from the chute tothe running direction of the running conveyor from the perpendiculardirection through 5* to 45* prior to feeding said crimped tow onto therunning conveyor.
 3. An apparatus for transferring a stuffer crimped towonto a running conveyor comprising a chute having an entry for receivingthe crimped tow from a stuffer crimper and an exit for discharging thecrimped tow onto the conveyor, a hollow passageway connecting said entryand said exit, said passageway having a twist through about 90* aboutits longitudinal axis and means of traversing at least one portion ofthe chute such that the exit makes reciprocating turns substantiallyhorizontally and almost perpendicular to the running direction of theconveyor in the desired traverse length.
 4. The apparatus fortransferring a stuffer crimped tow as set forth in claim 3 furthercomprising means of tilting the erect, crimped tow from theperpendicular direction to the running direction of the conveyor through5* to 45* to thereby prevent the crimped tow to be arranged on theconveyor from falling down.
 5. The apparatus for transferring a stuffercrimped tow as set forth in claim 3 wherein the cross section of thechute corresponds to the shape of the crimped tow and is slightly largerin cross-section than the crimped tow.
 6. The apparatus for transferringa stuffer crimped tow as set forth in claim 5, wherein the cross sectionof said entry of the chute is slightly larger than the cross-section ofthe other portions of the chute.
 7. The apparatus for transferring astuffer crimped tow as set forth in claim 3 further comprising atransfer plate between the stuffer crimper and the entry of the chute.